Fake crash has real lesson

Visitors to Killingly High School on Tuesday were greeted with a surreal scene, as ambulances, state police cruisers and fire trucks converged at the scene of a mock accident designed to give students a glimpse of the grisly toll a fatal drinking-and-driving incident can take.? ...

Visitors to Killingly High School on Tuesday were greeted with a surreal scene, as ambulances, state police cruisers and fire trucks converged at the scene of a mock accident designed to give students a glimpse of the grisly toll a fatal drinking-and-driving incident can take.?

As groups of juniors and seniors stood outside on a hillside, firefighters cracked open a smashed gray car, prying student-actors from the wreckage while a state trooper handcuffed the driver of a second vehicle, its floorboards littered with beer cans. As the exercise continued, sheets were draped over two bloody “victims,” while others were placed on gurneys and inserted into ambulances.?

Principal Andy Rockett said the mock-accident event, conducted every two years, was held specifically to reinforce the dangers of imbibing and driving, especially as prom and graduation time approaches.?

“By involving their peers we give the students a direct connection that can’t be gotten any other way,” he said. “It also gives them a real sense of the passing of time that takes place in an accident like this. They stand there looking at their friends while waiting for an ambulance.”?

The exercise brought together several local first-responders who were coordinated through a dispatch system. Tow trucks and a local funeral home were also brought in to ensure realism, said Peter Gerardi, the district’s school safety coordinator. ?

“We hope this type of event carries through with the students and helps them make better decisions during a vulnerable time,” he said.

?As the exercise progressed, so did the viewers’ attitudes. When the students were first brought out, many laughed and joked as a drizzly rain began to fall. By the time sheets were laid across the actors, some of the attendees wiped away tears and hugged their peers.

?“I’m friends with some of the students down there,” said Kirsten Cunneen, 16. “It’s kind of scary to see them like that.”?

Rockett said he wasn’t surprised by the students’ somber reactions.

?“I know first-hand how an accident like this can affect people,” he said. “When I was a sophomore, my older brother was a passenger in a car involved in a DUI. He was killed. I saw my father age 20 years in the six months that followed.”?

Karen Greb, 16, said seeing a fatal accident play out in front of her was more haunting and effective than any other approach she’d been party to.?“You can actually visualize it,” she said.